this is a live look outside at the u.s. capitol dome. it is thursday. the temperatures creeping downward. we've had it good for a couple of days but now it looks like things are returning back on our normal cold weather. i'm wisdom martin. sarah simmons has the day off. time to check in on the weather. here is gwen. >> a very chilly start to the day. a far cry from where we've been the last couple of days. that mercury really dropping. we'll show you what is going

on. not a lot happening on our satellite-radar composite. we really don't have any clouds to talk about. things will be sunny into the course of the day. 28 at gaithersburg. 31 at baltimore. 36 at d.c. 4 at fredericksburg. a chilly 28 degrees for winchester. the same for culpeper. 46-degree for your day time high. the skies will be very bright and, unlike yesterday, the winds will be very light newout the course of the day. we had gusty winds yesterday but that is going to be not a factor at all. your full forecast coming up a little bit later. back to you.

taking a look at our top stories, fairfax county police are investigating a scary find inside a student's locker. a loaded handgun was found yesterday at robinson secondary school in fairfax. school insists students were never in any harm and say appropriate disciplinary action is being taken. also this morning, there is a glimmer of hope there could be a new round of negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke by phone for the first time in days. no details on that conversation. the two sides are at a state mail over raising attacks on incomes over $250,000. an international news alert. there are fears that the syrian government is getting ready to drop a nerve gas on his own people. the gas is being mixed in bombs for potential use. as ainsley earhart reports, the

united states is promising consequences for the gas is excused against the syrian people. >> reporter: it appears there has been an alarming escalation in the syrian civil war, the country's government preparing nerve gas bombs and awaiting the orders from president assad to use them. u.s. officials relying on surveillance said there was no evidence that this had begun. >> we have sent an up mistakeable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account. >> reporter: a senior u.s. official telling fox the gas bombs must be used within 60 days in order to be viable inform deployed. the gas could till thousands instantly. some 40,000 syrians have already lost that you are lives in the 21 month long civil war. >> the world is watching. if you make the tragic mistake

of using these weapons, there will be consequences. >> reporter: there is no indication u.s. troops would cross into syrian territory but the pentagon saying it would require more than 75,000 soldiers. the united nations with a dose of reality for president assad. >> whoever commits violation of human rights must be held accountable and should be brought to justice. >> the gas is a colorless and odorless gas. plenty ahead. weather and traffic and all

your top stories. fox 5 morning news at 4:30 starts now. good morning to you. it is thursday, or as some people like to call, it friday eve. it is a little bit chilly outside this morning. we expect that because it is almost christmas time, almost winter time. good morning to you. i'm wisdom martin. sarah simmons has the day off. let's talk about this with gwen. i know the not officially winter yet. but in our minds, winter time. >> i think the minute you hit the month of december, you start to feel like it is supposed to be really cold. and those 70-degree days, that was just a little bit of a tease, i think. but, yeah, we're back to reality, folks. prepare yourself and dress accordingly. not a lot of clouds this morning. yesterday, we had a lot of

clouds and even some precipitation. here is a look at your current temperature. reagan national airport at 36 degrees. 31 at dulles. 31 at bwi thurgood marshall. it will be much cooler with our highs only making it into the mid-40s. by midday, it will be about 42 degrees and by the 5:00 hour, still into the low 40s. the bottom line is we are getting back to reality because, when we hit the 70- degree days, we should have only been at about 50. so we were spoiled. it's over at least for now. >> time to check in with traffic. here is julie wright. >> am i the only one who says let's cope the party going. i like to be spoiled. i'll put it out there.

here we are at connecticut avenue with traffic flowing freely in each direction headed on the inner loop over towards college park and coming from the american legion bridge where we had the earlier crash this morning involving a tractor-trailer. the tractor-trailer on the shoulder. lanes are now open. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. traffic. >> thank you. fairfax county police are investigating a scary find in a student's locker. a loaded happened gun was found at robinson secondary school. parents were immediately notified. >> i think i was very relieved that they dealt with it as well as they did. it sounds like it was caught quickly and the situation was dealt with and the kids were kept safe. i think it's pretty safe school. >> school officials say they are taking the situation very

seriously and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. former delegate tiffany alston is officially out of office. yesterday, a prince george's county eugenie judge ruled she was out of office. the judge also ruled that the nomination of greg hall to replace her can be withdrawn. this comes after details of a troubled past for hall has come forward. forward. former d.c. council chairman kwame brown's brother is charged with the same kind of crime that forced brown to resign. he is facing bank fraud charges. he is accused of claiming build 35,000 of income on a mortgage loan request. kwame brown also pled guilty to lying about his income on bank loan applications. the big story, for the first time in days, president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke by phone about

the looming fiscal cliff. the hope is that this is a sign the two sides are trying to kick start negotiations. fox 5's bob barnard has more. >> i hope he with can come together. it is important to avoid the fiscal cliff and to do it the right way. >> reporter: doing it the right with a depends on who you are speaking to. i asked chris van hollen what happens if the white house and republicans in congress cannot reach a deal by january 1st. >> it doesn't necessarily mean january 2nd the world falls apart. but what it does mean is, if you go into january, deeply into january without having resolved these issues, taxes will go up across the board on everybody. that is a big tax increase. >> reporter: and deep across the board spending cuts in defense and other areas of the federal government. >> the plans that the white house has talked about thus far, they couldn't pass either house of the congress.

>> reporter: president obama says he will not sign a bill without a tax increase on incomes over $250,000. he met with a room full of ceos in washington today. >> i know that many of you have come down here to try to see, there a way we with break through the logjam and go ahead and get things done. and i'm here to tell you that nobody wants to get this done more than me. >> reporter: and yet house speaker john boehner says the president hat not responded to republicans' latest proposal. >> that offer included significant spending cuts and reforms and it included additional revenue. and frankly, it was the balanced approach that the president has been asking for. >> reporter: perhaps the boehner-obama phone call has moved things along. >> there is lots of activity looking at options. what we don't have is a meeting of the mind. this will require a difficult compromise on all sides to get

the job done. also this morning, the developing crisis in syria. unnamed u.s. officials say the syrian army has loaded deadly gas into aerial bombs and is just waiting for orders from president assad. the nerve gas is deadly and volatile but has a relatively brief shelf life. syrian forces have 60 days to use the bombs before they expire and need to be destroyed. the united states has warned that using chemical well ons -- weapons would trigger great western intervention. there is a funeral for a man who was pushed off a subway station platform. the family is struggling to understand why it happened and why nobody tried to help. >> our family is grieving now

but we want to thank everyone who has reached out to us and offered their help. we are suffering in sorrow but we have the support of our family, friends and our church to help us through this time. >> police say han tried to climb a few feet to safety but got trapped between the train and the platform's edge. we'll show you why people stood in long lines overnight. >> plus, more unrest in egypt. we are checking more headlines. stay with us. 

new violent clashes in egypt this morning. five people were killed and 446 were hurt as supporters and opponents of president muhammed

morsi started shoving each other and it escalated to shots being fired. we are learn army tanks are now outside presidential palace. the government saying the constitutional referendum will go ahead december 15th. police have arrested software company founder john mcafee for entering guatemala illegally. he had been in hiding for weeks after being named a person of interest in a murder case in belize. he resurfaced to formally accept political asylum. the guatemalan ministry has not yet decided whether to accepted him back to belize. macafee says he fears for his safety in belize because he has sensitive information about official corruption. gay couples can now get married in the state of washington. the governor signed the law yesterday and same-sex couples did not waste any time lining

up outside a seattle administration building. they began picking up their wedding licenses this morning. the nominations for the 2013 grammy awards are in. six different artists tied for top nominee. they are kanye west, jay-z, frankie ocean. mumford and sons and the band fun. and call me maybe up for song of the year. the grammys will air on february 10th. i. red parking meters around town designed to fight fraud and provide parking for the disabled but up next, that effort isn't going as planned and the costing you. we'll get the details. >> this morning is a far cry from where we were yesterday and the day before with the temperatures. cooler air kicking in. i'm he have the details on how

long it will stick around. and your full forecast. we'll be back after the break.

time now for a fox 5 holiday tradition. accepted in your ornaments for the fox 5 christmas tree. we'll decorate a tree with your festive donation and give it to a local charity to brighten up your holiday. your holiday.

be sure to put it to the attention of the fox 5 christmas tree. s tree. and keep with the holiday spirit, a reminder that tonight is the national christmas tree lighting ceremony. that could mean a mess for traffic. a heads up, that is beginning at 4:15 this evening. 15th street northwest will be closed between e street at pennsylvania and constitution and 17th street will be closed between constitution and new york avenues. all roads should be open by 7:00. the ceremony kicked off at 4:30. we'll get a preview in our next hour when our very own holly morris joins us live from the ellipse. what is the weather going to be like? >> cold. please dress warmly if you want to enjoy that. layers always work, of course. we have a big temperature drop behind a frontal system. that is the reality. let's put everything together for you. we'll begin with a look at our weather headlines. on an up note, we've got lots

of sunshine in the forecast today, i'm happy to say. dim going to have bright skies. can't give you much in terms of clouds at all into the course of today. we do have below average temperatures. it will be chilly out there and cold so just make sure you are prepared in you are planning to go down and see the christmas tree lighting. the weekend will warm up again. we get a little bit of a boost and temperature are seasonal. we move into the end of the weekend on sunday. we've got plenty of clear skies. ridge of high pressure in control. a few high clouds to the north and west of us but other than that, not a whole lot happening this morning except it is very cool out there. here is a look at your current temperatures. only 28 degrees at one chester. the same at cumberland. 30 for culpeper this hour. 27 at gaithersburg and d.c., 36. 39 in annapolis. 31 at baltimore and 30 death at dulles. wind are light and they bill stay that way so wear not going to get much happening there. you can see this pool of really

cool air situated here and that is the jet stream just allowing that colder air to push in from the north. -- so we're not going to get much happening there. we'll have lots of sunshine but it will be cool and chilly. as we move through into tomorrow, we have a frontal system to keep an eye on. even tonight, can't rule out some moisture coming through. over the mountains, they have a chance of seeing some precipitation. even a chance to see i little bit the freezing rain there so we'll watch that pretty closely. looks like this moisture will be kicking in for us as we move into the sunday-monday period. 46degrees for today, sunny, chilly. tonight, cold. 36degrees southeasterly winds at five miles per hour. here is a look at your fox 5

accu-weather seven-day forecast. we warm up ever so slightly into the low 60s as we move through into the course of the weekend. not bad at all and then we see a little bit of a chance of a shower as we move through into sunday and monday. we move back to drier conditions the beginning of the week. it has been busy overnight and early this morning with a tractor-trailer crash that occurred on the outer loop of the beltway just after 355. there was a tractor-trailer loaded with pineapples that overturned onto its side. lanes are open on the outer loop of the beltway but traffic will slow as you make your way past the scene due to rubbernecking delays. right now, very light volume. let's continue with the cameras. southbound 270 on the top side looking great out of frederick. no problems to report leaving hyattstown headed into clarksburg.

here we are live northbound 395 in the main line and express lanes. traffic flowing freely past duke street headed out towards shirlington. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. an effort to fight fraud and provoid parking spots for the disabled in the district is being called a disaster. d.c. council members don't know what to do with those red top meters you may have seen around town and the program has cost taxpayers $815,000. matt ackland has details. >> reporter: it was alleged fraud of the free disabled parking policy uncovered by fox 5 and d-d.o.t. which prompted the red top meter program. but in a tie vote tuesday night, about a year after those red tops went up, the program is still on hold. >> i was disappointed because i think the bill we put together actually was very, very good. >> reporter: councilmember mary cheh is frustrated after working with the disabled community to put together a plan which would make 10% of all parking spots red tops.

her bill would have likely stopped the fraud by making all pay to park. >> what they kept saying is accessibility is the key thing. we want to be treated equally. we want to have access. we're willing to pay for parking. >> reporter: councilmember muriel bowser helped blocked program after hearing from her constituents. >> a have a left senior citizens and some have disabilities. i know they will abandon shopping in the district and go for maryland where the parking is more responsible. cheh thought the politics may have killed her bill. >> i think we were caught up in the politics now of maybe some members wanting to be mayor or whatever they want to be. i had one office, the staff said we agree this is good policy but it is bad politics. >> reporter: so the question, what comes now? the useless 4 other red tops

already in place and 1500 more in storage will just sit there until the council can come up with a plan that work. >> i'm not sure what the next step is. >> reporter: d-d.o.t. says don't worry. somehow, they will put the nearly 2,000 red top meet ares to use in the future even if they have to paint over the red. in the district, matt ackland, fox 5 news. do you need any extra motivation to hit the gym or go for a jog this morning. coming up next, one man's inspirational story, how he lost 300 pounds. we'll tell you all about it when we come back. [ woman ] ring. ring. prprogresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she?

[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am

[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant he used to weigh more than 600 pounds and now dan hawthorne is half his former size and sharing his weight loss journey with others. beth parker is bringing us his inspirational story. >> no pain, for gain.

>> reporter: this isn't gym class. this is a lesson in inspiration. dan hawthorne returned to his alma mater to ask a question j how does a map get to 625 pounds. >> reporter: he is that man or at least he was. >> for two years, i sat on the couch and ate myself to death. food was my drug. the highlight of my paper route was stopping at hall's corner store and getting my doughnut and chocolate milk. >> reporter: he ballooned to 625 pounds. >> getting from my house to my car took all the effort i had. i thought it was over. >> reporter: he finally hit a turning point. >> you've all heard the rocky theme. it started to go off in the head. >> reporter: he got an e-mail fry friend of a friend, thomas burge, a professor and coach at hagerstown community college. here is a photo from the day they met. >> you know what his reply was?

this is nothing you said we can't fix. >> reporter: together they worked sitting down at first. eventually, he made it down to 400 pounds. >> this feels good. >> now, he has cut his weight in half. dan comes here for the gym five to six times a we can and just like you, there are days when he opportunity feel like being here. >> every day, the first thing i do is look in that mirror. i might have the days where it is still cold outside, dark, you don't want to do it. i like breathing. i like feeling good. i like looking better. that is all the motivation i need. >> reporter: he says burge saved his life. >> i think it feels good for me because of what it is doing for him j it reminds me of my little sister. right now, she is 130 and i'm only 126 so -- and she is 11 years old. this is a big eye opener for me and her. i'm going to tell her and show

her. i'm going to be like you need to get it together. me and you are going to do this together. >> reporter: in hagerstown, beth parker, fox 5 news. he is only a rookie and he is already headed to the nfl hall of fame. rg iii's impressive season keeps getting better. that is coming up next. another win at the comcast center. we have high heights coming up next.

in sports, maryland hosted maryland eastern shore. this one would never be close. the terps jumped you out to the a 21 point lead at the break and would go on to win. this is the seventh straight win after losing the season opener. virginia hosted tennessee and it would turn out to be a defensive affair. the cavs led at the break by a

low score of 25-16. they would not relent. virginia goes on to defeat tennessee. robert griffin iii has already made it to the hall of fame. at least a piece of him did. griffin broke cam knew ton's nfl rookie quarterback rushing record on monday night. he now has 714 rushing yards on the season. his game jersey and cleats from the game is now heading to canton to be put on exhibit. >> it's awesome. everyone wants to be in the hall of fame. so we're in there. but got a long career. this is only the first step. it is and honor to have my jersey and cleats over there, very dirty, in the hall of fame. >> plenty ahead. it is